What is a Portable Hard Drive?

Portable hard drives are data storage devices which can be connected to a computer easily. Here we speak of some important features of such devices.

Roy D'Silva

The digital world has seen colossal progress in the last few years. Almost everything related to the Internet and computers have increased in their capacity in the past ten years or so―be it processor speeds, Internet speeds, or hard drive capacity.

Though processor speeds seldom made a difference to the average computer user and Internet surfer, Internet speeds and hard drive capacities certainly put a spanner in the computer user's journey on the information superhighway.

Hard drives have increased in capacity from a measly 2 GB to a mammoth 1 TB today. Earlier, we had a 4 GB hard disk in the office, and we actually had to load (store/paste/save) one movie onto the hard disk, watch it, and then delete it to make way for another. Remember, Windows 95 and Windows 98 took at least 1 GB of precious, precious hard drive space.

It is said that one knows the actual value of a thing only when they feel the incessant need of it in their daily lives. And one digital gadget we actually dreamed of during those times was a portable hard drive. A hard drive which we could just plug-in, watch our movies, do our stuff, unplug it and walk off into the sunset, no one the wiser.

With the continual progress on the technology front, the present has a very bad habit of catching up with the future. The gadgets we saw in sci-fi movies in the eighties and nineties are very much a reality today―and so is the portable hard drive.

Facts

A portable hard drive is a device that can be connected externally to the computer. It is connected to the computer via that splendid invention of the digital age―the USB. These hard drives require their own power connection, and almost all manufacturers ship their products with a power cable and USB cable.

These drives are available in a range of data storage capacities, right from 1 TB to utmost 100 TB. Depending on the company, these devices come with various other useful and user-friendly features that make managing data on the go the simplest thing to handle after coffee. Some drives also offer data synchronization.

Cases

Any media or computer machinery requires proper covering and casing while traveling. Remember those days when you chucked a CD in your trouser pocket and sat down hurriedly and―kraaa-ccc-k―there went your Prince of Persia CD. Well, that's what CD covers were made for.

If you would not dream of going out of your house with your laptop but without your laptop bag, then please invest in a proper case if you are about to buy or are already using a portable hard drive. Though many people will opine that a hard drive does not require any casing, that is so not the case.

These devices, like any other electronic device, can be completely damaged if they fall with great force, sometimes, even some hard jerks to the hard disk can destroy the hard drive.

There are a variety of hard drive cases available in the market, fitting any need and taste. Some come with zippers while others come with clip-on buttons. Believe me, once you decide to go in for one, you will be spoiled for choice.